[JonTownsend]

Recently I have been dealing with a large number of issues where the user will receive a call from somebody claiming to be from Microsoft. The caller will state something to the effect of your computer has several serious issues and is submitting error reports to Microsoft and they are calling to help you resolve the issues. They will then claim your computer has viruses, registry errors and all kinds of other cataclysmic issues that if you don't resolve them your computer will crash and you will lose all your data.

This is a scam. First rule of thumb is NEVER let somebody you don't know connect to your computer for any reason. Microsoft error reports do not include your personal information and even if they did Microsoft does not care about the state of your PC nor would they contact you. They are a software company, not a service company. I have had individuals fall for this scam and give their credit card number to the caller to pay for the $200+ charge the callers want to supposedly fix your computer. In some cases when the PC owner refused they found a password was installed on their system making it impossible to use unless they pay to get the password.

Hang up on these callers. Tell them you don't have a computer. Just don't listen to anything they say. They are scam artists and can sound very convincing to a novice computer user.

If your computer has problems you will know and there are several qualified and capable repair services in The Villages area. There are also several non-qualified and incapable repair services as well so do some research before you settle for someone to fix your computer. Avoid large scale chain store repair services who's rates hardly are justified by the quality of service you will receive.

Let your friends and family know about this as well. The easiest way to combat these scammers is the knowledge of knowing they are out there and what they do.